Pristine Beaches In West Bali

For the initial part of our trip, I'm very glad we picked this area to stay at. I daresay that these black sand beaches along the west way off Denpasar are the most beautiful on the island.

The seas off the south, east and north are already polluted. The south is the worst. The dark brown beaches of Sanur, Seminyak and Kuta are dirtier than a garbage dump. Even the main beaches of Nusa Lembongan are too. I would never remove my slippers at those beaches. At the beaches in West Bali, they're still relatively unspoilt. Almost pristine. They're secluded and very private, even though most stretches are open to the public. I stayed there for hours and only saw a few souls. It's very obvious that not many tourists come out this far west of Bali.

The black sand glisten in the sun, as if diamond dust has been sprinkled all over. The sand is so fine and soft. I didn't just go cartwheeling on the sand. I did all sorts of stuff- stretches, splits, jumps and bends. The tranquility is unbelievably fabulous.

Developers have begun to turn their eyes towards this beautiful and serene region. In 3 years, I believe West Bali would be no different from Seminyak. Tourism is a double-edged sword. I hope this area doesn't degenerate into Ubud in the chase for the tourist dollar. With many sighs, I store nature's beauty into my memories. I'm quite sure this would be my last trip to Bali for a while. I've lived here for months on end, returning recently to check out its progress. I think I'm done with the island. It's been marvelous for a while. But as the years pass, the island has become disappointing. It's getting more challenging to suss out what else I want to do here, or if I want repeats of anything.